Parts or components are typically transported along a conveyor-type assembly line by means of a small movable platform, known as a pallet. The pallet is stopped at various locations along the assembly line so that some type of assembly operation can be performed. When the pallets are stopped along the assembly line, the conveyor belts under the pallets typically continue to move relative to the pallets resulting in wear to the top surface of the belts and to the bottom surface of the pallets.
In a typical assembly line installation, the pallets are placed on moving belts on a conveyor. The belts are solid, have a circular cross-section, are positioned in a parallel spaced-apart relationship and move parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor. Typically, each belt is received within a groove located on the bottom surface of the pallet gripping same permitting the pallet to be transported along the assembly line until it contacts a "stop" or until it contacts another pallet which has been stopped. When a moving pallet contacts a "stop" or contacts another pallet which has been stopped, the moving pallet is subjected to shock loading. Thus, in a typical assembly line installation utilizing presently available pallets, the abrupt stopping of a pallet causes the pallet to be subjected to shock resulting in the jarring of the parts or components being transported thereby. In addition, after the pallet has been stopped, wear occurs to the conveyor belts and to the grooves on the bottom surface of the pallet since the belts continue to move with respect to the stopped pallet.
In view of the foregoing, it has become desirable to develop a pallet type transfer device which minimizes or eliminates wear to the conveyor belts and to the bottom surface of the pallet when the pallet is in the "stopped" condition and which minimizes the shock which occurs when a pallet contacts a "stop" or another pallet which has been stopped along the conveyor line.